By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Grand Départ in EdinburghFriday 2 July 2027
- Where
- Avenue des Champs-Élysées
- Tickets
- Free
- Time of year
- July
- Dates
- Around the same dates every year
Stage 21 runs 116km from Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, with a detour up Rue Lepic and the Butte Montmartre before the Champs-Élysées. Passing times, road closures and the Métro stations that shut are published in the week before.
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The Tour de France ends in Paris on a Sunday evening at the end of July. After a slow ride in from the western suburbs, the riders climb the cobbles of Rue Lepic to the Butte Montmartre, then race laps of the Champs-Élysées to a sprint for the line. Watching is free from any barrier on the route. The racing inside the city lasts about an hour and a half in the early evening, but the places at the front go by early afternoon.
What the Tour de France in Paris actually is
The Tour de France is three weeks of racing around France, and this edition starts in Edinburgh. By the last day the overall standings are normally settled, so the first part of the final stage is a procession, and the racing begins once the riders reach Paris.
For decades that racing meant laps of the Champs-Élysées and nothing else. After the Paris Olympic road races drew huge crowds to Montmartre, the Tour added the same climb: up Rue Lepic, past the Sacré-Cœur and down Rue Caulaincourt. On its latest finish the Tour sent the riders up it three times, 1.1km at close to 6%, before heading back to the Champs-Élysées and a finish about 15km from the top. The organisers have confirmed the Rue Lepic detour for this edition too.
It has changed the character of the day. The finish on the Champs-Élysées is a stadium-sized party with a giant screen, while the crowd on the Butte stands right beside the riders on the steepest cobbles of the route. For a visitor in Paris that weekend it is free, it fills the west of the city and Montmartre for the afternoon, and it closes roads and Métro stations across both.
Where to watch the Tour de France in Paris
- The Champs-Élysées. The finish line, several laps and the final sprint, with fan zones and a giant screen. The festivities run until the podium at sunset.
- Place de la Concorde. At the foot of the avenue, where the riders come through on every lap. The City of Paris advises getting there very early.
- Rue Lepic. The climb, on cobbles, with the loudest crowd of the day and a view over the city. The stairs and high points around it fill first.
- Rue Caulaincourt. The quieter descent beside the Montmartre Cemetery, where the riders slow for the bends and there is room on the tree-lined pavements.
- The Louvre. The route has crossed the Cour Napoléon past the pyramid and the Carrousel arch before running along the Seine.
Tickets and what it costs
There are no tickets for the roadside. The race runs on public streets, and every barrier on the route is open to anyone who gets there first.
The cost is the wait. A front-row place at Concorde or on the Champs-Élysées means arriving by early afternoon for riders who come through in the evening, in the hottest weeks of the Paris year, so bring water.
Official information and booking: www.letour.fr/en/stage-21
Getting there
Roads close along the route for the whole day, under an order from the Préfecture de Police that covers the Champs-Élysées, Concorde, the centre and the streets around the Butte.
Métro stations close as well. The RATP’s most recent list shut every station along the Champs-Élysées, with Concorde, Tuileries and Charles de Gaulle–Étoile, from the start of service, and closed Blanche, Place de Clichy, Rome, Villiers and others around Montmartre from early afternoon. Trains ran through without stopping, and the Montmartre funicular stopped too. The new list appears a few days before the race.
Walk the final stretch from a station outside the closures, and allow time to leave: after the podium the crowd heads for the same few open stations.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Arriving mid-afternoon for the finish
The front of the barriers on the Champs-Élysées and at Concorde fills hours before the riders arrive. Come by early afternoon, or watch the climb in Montmartre instead.
Sightseeing in Montmartre that day
The Butte is part of the course. Its streets fill, the funicular stops and nearby stations close, so see the Sacré-Cœur on another day.
Counting on the nearest Métro station
Stations along the route close for the day, and trains pass through them without stopping. Check the RATP list the week before.
Other Paris events
Frequently asked questions
When does the Tour de France finish in Paris?
On the last Sunday of the race, at the end of July, with the riders reaching the city in the early evening. The date is in the card at the top of the page.
Where is the best place to watch the Tour de France in Paris?
The Champs-Élysées for the finish and the sprint, Rue Lepic in Montmartre for the climb and the loudest crowd. Concorde sees the riders on every lap.
Is it free to watch the Tour de France in Paris?
Yes. The race runs on public streets and there are no tickets for the roadside.
Does the Tour de France still climb Montmartre?
Yes. The organisers have confirmed the detour up Rue Lepic and the Butte Montmartre before the finish on the Champs-Élysées.
Which Métro stations close for the Tour de France finish?
The RATP publishes the list a few days before. The previous one closed the stations along the Champs-Élysées, Concorde and Tuileries all day, and several around Montmartre from early afternoon.
Sources
- Tour de France, stage 21: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to Paris Champs-Élysées
- Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme on stage 21
- Ville de Paris, where to watch the last stage of the Tour de France
- Ville de Paris, the Tour de France back in Montmartre
- Sortiraparis, the Métro stations closed for the last finish (from the RATP)
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.